Devil
Racer closes gap on V8 Supercar Championship Series lead
Press Release
Tasmania’s favourite son Marcos Ambrose closed the gap on team-mate Russell Ingall in the V8 Supercar Championship title fight after the first race of the Tasmanian Ferodo Triple Challenge today. It proved a Holden trifecta in the opening race of the penultimate round of the V8 Supercar Championship at Symmons Plains, won by Garth Tander (HSV Dealer Team) ahead of Steven Richards (Team Perkins Holden) and Rick Kelly (HSV Dealer Team).
The real interest remains in the battle for the Championship with series leader Ingall finishing in eighth in race one and retaining his lead. Launceston-born Ambrose gained eight points after finishing fourth, closing the gap to 58 points with 320 points still up for grabs the last two events.
“It was nice to peg a few more points back on Russell, but it was tough work,” Ambrose said.
“The car was definitely a handful in places. While saying that, it was pleasing to pick up five spots in the shootout and put ourselves towards the front for the start of the race.
“We have plenty of work to do overnight to ensure we pick up enough car speed to be competitive.”
Ingall believes his team has some hard work to do overnight.
“We definitely had to work for that result and it was not that great,” Ingall said. “We have some searching to do tonight and hopefully that will find us a bit more speed.
“This weekend is all about ensuring we stay out of trouble and keep racking up the points.’’
Craig Lowndes (Betta Electrical Ford) remains in third place in the championship after finishing fifth in today’s race. He has improved his overall position with the Bathurst winning Holden Racing Team pair of Rick Kelly and Mark Skaife the main losers.
Kelly spun twice at the hairpin on his way to finishing 15th while five-times V8 Supercar Champion Skaife spun at the same corner in front of Lowndes who was unable to avoid the collision.
Skaife limped home in 26th position and is now a distant 130 points from leader Ingall in the championship race.
Tander showed the benefit of slick pit work to help him to his second race win of the year, following his victory in the final race at Darwin in July
After trailing Richards of the front row of the grid, Tander opted to come in early on lap seven and a brilliant pit stop resulted in him taking the lead after Richards pitted two laps later.
``It was a fantastic stop by the guys. That’s what won us the race, ‘’ Tander said. ``They have got it down to three seconds in practice.
``From there it was a matter of staying out o trouble especially in traffic,’’ he said after setting a new lap record of 52.18sec. Ten drivers went under the old lap record set by Todd Kelly last year.
Richards, who repeated his poll position of last year at Symmons Plains, drew within striking distance of the battle for third place in the championship after his second placing today.
``It shows what can happen out there. And of course things can change again tomorrow,’’ Richards said. ``If we can keep scoring good points then we can finish in third or fourth in the championships. It’s a realistic goal.’’
Richards said a slight mistake in pit lane proved costly.
``It’s the nature of the game. If you make a small blue on the track then you pay fit it. It’s the same in the pits.’’
Earlier Richards repeated his effort of last year in Perth by grabbing poll for the opening race. He triumphed after an incident-filled qualifying with four red flag stoppages in the combined session.
Round
12, Ferodo Triple Challenge, Symmons Plains, Tasmania
Race 1 Results (42 laps)
1.
Garth Tander, #16 HSV DT Commodore VZ, 64 pts
2. Steven Richards, #24 Castrol Commodore VZ, 62 pts
3. Rick Kelly, #15 HSV DT Commodore VZ, 60 pts
4. Marcos Ambrose, #1 Pirtek Falcon BA, 58 pts
5. Craig Lowndes, #888 Betta Falcon BA, 56 pts
6. Paul Dumbrell, #11 Castrol Commodore VZ, 54 pts
7. Jason Bright, #6 CAT Falcon BA, 52 pts
8. Russell Ingall, #9 Caltex Falcon BA, 50 pts
9. Steve Ellery, #88 Betta Falcon BA, 48 pts
10. Steven Johnson, #17 Westpoint Falcon BA, 46 pts
Ambrose (Pirtek Ford) and Ingall took until near the end of the session to secure a place in the Top10. Ambrose then produced a superb lap in the Shootout to start on the second row alongside Rick Kelly.
Ingall (Caltex Ford) struggled for much of the session, edging into the top-10 in the final minutes of qualifying.
There are two further races tomorrow.
Results, race 1, Ferodo Triple Challenge, Symmons Plains, Tasmania (42 laps):
1.
Garth Tander HSV Dealer Holden 37m37.92s
2 Steven Richards Team Perkins Holden 37:38.94
3. Rick Kelly HSV Dealer Holden 37:42.45
4. Marcos Ambrose Pirtek Racing Ford 37:43.23
5. Craig Lowndes Betta Electrical Ford 37:50.10
6. Paul Dumbrell Team Perkins Holden 37:51.97
7. Jason Bright Ford Performance Racing 38:54.18
8. Russell Ingall Caltex Racing Ford 37:55.08
9. Steve Ellery Beta Electrical Ford 37:56.32
10. Steven Johnson Westpoint Racing Ford 38:06.29.